In May 2024 Love, Courage, and Miracles was published. I am grateful for all of you who supported our story and were willing to read or listen about our journey with cystic fibrosis, Anna’s lung transplant and the wild adventure. The reviews you have left on the Amazon site have been wonderful and so supportive. I would love to ask if any of you have not yet read it to please do. Or you can listen to an audio version that was recorded and narrated by me. In order to get exposure for a book in today’s world it takes a lot of work! I just have not found the inspiration to do all of the necessary online everything.
This past year has been a challenging one for Anna and our family. There is a terrible grip on all of us as we have watched Anna beat back threats to her life. Last year she overcame a perforated duodenal ulcer that at first was considered impossible to cure. A point came when Anna realized that her team was hesitating on treatment as they did not want to do more harm. She told them she wanted to live and get through this. It took tremendous courage and determination but Anna got through the regular grueling procedures necessary and not only survived but thoroughly healed her ulcer! Her team was amazed at her strength and the power to heal herself. And we are grateful for a medical team that stood by her.
Anna’s challenges did not end there. Eventually her mycobacterium abcessus that had moved to the back of the treatment regime as she healed her ulcer rose its head again. Anna tried treatment for this infection again. The antibiotics are intolerable for her system. They are toxic and truly interfere with her quality of life. So, Anna chose to stop treating the infection after spending most of a year in and out of the hospital. As a result she has gained strength and and has been able to stay out of the hospital and home with her Zoe and Terry. The infection and the inability to properly treat it prevents Anna from ever receiving a second transplant. She is squeezing all the living she can out of this time.
And a miracle has happened! In March, Doug and I arrived in Australia to help Anna and spend time together. About a week after we arrived something amazing happened. In the morning with our coffee in hand Anna suddenly saw a notice on FB messenger. Someone was asking if she was the one who had gone to the Africa transplant games… It was a woman who claimed to be Anna’s donor’s mother! We were stopped! We were stunned! A flood of emotion filled our space. We wondered if this could be true? Here Anna was facing her declining health, in a new stage of survival and one thing she wanted so deeply was to know who her donor was. She was about to find out. First we had to be sure this was who she said she was. With more details it was clear. Anna’s donor mom was truly trying to make contact! Incredible!
In the weeks that followed Anna has gotten to know Delia and learned more about her donor, Shawntee. It has been a head spinning experience to make this contact when we thought it would never happen. I am so grateful I was in Australia with Anna when this happened. Perfect timing! I will be meeting Delia soon and am bringing her gifts from Australia. This will be a profound meeting of two moms and grandmothers. This is an amazing way to celebrate the first anniversary of Love, Courage, and Miracles and I will look forward to sharing about our meeting in a following post.